I thought CBS Channel Two had the best coverage of the Rod Blagojevich verdict reading.
An employee was texting from the courtroom.
This is how CBS Channel Two told viewers the guilty findings on Counts 12, 13 and 14.
Viewers could see in real time what the talking heads saw.
In covering the Health Facilities Planning Board meeting in Joliet, the Northwest Herald had a camera, which I didn’t dip into (a case of too much information for me), and a series of notes from a reporter on the scene.
First, Mercy’s Crystal Lake application went down with only one vote in favor, the paper reported.
Although the web site reported that Centegra’s Huntley hospital application was also rejected, no vote was given. Guess readers will have to wait until tomorrow to find out.
Or one could go to the Daily Herald story and find the vote was the same 8-1.
I probably should have gone out on a limb and predicted that both applications would be rejected.
There were a bunch of new members who knew little of the process. And the staff had recommended rejection of both applications.
I still don’t think there should be a Soviet-style judgment made by state government. If Centegra and Mercy want to roll the dice on hundreds of millions of dollars of construction, let them.
The free market would decide the winners and losers among the new and older competitors.
Though I’m not suggesting it happened in these cases, the fact that this board has the power to disapprove business ventures on the excuse that they relate to health care is an invitation to graft. Those who are casting about for a way to prevent a future Blago should consider dramatically reducing the size and reach of government. The fewer the “favors” to confer or withhold, the fewer the opportunities for bribes.